Control means for defrosting refrigerators



Sept. 19, 1961 J. J. EVERARD CONTROL MEANS FOR DEFROSTING REFRIGERATORS Original Filed 061'.. l. 1956 2 sheets-snaai 1 Frye. 2

1N V EN TOR.

desem-1 J. EVERARD BY A-r-r @Neff Sept. 19, 1961 J. J. Evl-:RARD 3,001,036

CONTROL MEANS FOR DEFRosTING REFRIGERATORS Driginal Filed Oct. l, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l 2 0 5 4 Fte.. 3 L

er* 3 i Fla. 6

'Im/ENTOR. J o sem-a .EvEnARo rIJuifs-C1Smsr Pats-ef C This invention relates to control means for defrosting refrigerators. l

This invention is an 'improvement over that disclosed inthe patent of David Morrison Number 2,690,526, of

ASeptember 28,- 1954, for Control Means forDefrosting Refrigerators, and assigned `to thesame assignee Vas the present invention. i

In the prior invention disclosed in the ,above noted patent, control means were employed in which a timer lcam rotated once every 24 hoursLfor initiating the defrosting operationjand in which means Were provided for terminating the defrosting operation. It is found however that the principle of this construction, as set forth Y ,inthe above disclosed patent was not entirely satisfactory 4since if the construction were modified to provide adefrfosting Yperiod once every ve days, instead of once ,every day, the' compressor could not be "put back into operationuntil vafter a lapse of time tive times theperiod for defrosting. For example, if the patented construction referred to above, took a fifteen minute defrosting period, seventy-live minutes'would be required before the 'cvompressor'was put. back 4into operation.v This would allQWftoo much eating up of the refrigerator vwhich would be wholly unsatisfactory. r

YObjects of this invention are to provide a novel form :of control means for defrosting refrigeratorsin which theV Vdefrosting yoperation is time initiated and ltemperature terminated, in which a heater. is provided for quickly raising the temperature .and stopping the operation of the compressor so as to provide quick `defrosting,` and in whichmeans are provided for instantaneously cutting out Athe heater and starting the compressor when the desired ,temperature has been obtained. k 'l ""fFrther objects are to provide a solenoid 'controlled levicefforV transferringv the electrical energy supplied, from the heater to the compressor so that thesolenoid only operates instantaneously and the solenoid, therefore, is inot called upon 'to continuously operate for several minutes at a time, thus avoiding the noise of the solenoid, and, in which the solenoid is arranged to cut itself oi after its instantaneous operation.

Further objects are to provide la construction in which 'the device can be so made that it will cause defrosting I'afterl day,` 2 days, 3 days, 4 days5 days and so forth,

as desired,A by means of a simple change made at the factory. v *f Furtherv objects are to provide a construction in which 'the change from al day defrosting operation to a defrosting operation of many days is easy to make at the factory without any elaborate ,change in the apparatus, butby means of a very simple change in gearlng and cant construction whichvis all that is required.

Further objects are to provide -a safety feature which may be called a fail saferdevice, which is so constructed that in the'revent the thermostat controlling the heater Further objectsvare to provide a control means for defrosting refrigerators which is very simple to make,

P Y Patented Sept. 19, 1961 which is relatively cheap to manufacture,` and which is reliable in operation. y An embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view of the Vapparatus with the cover removed and with the parts in their normal position.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of the apparatus.

FIGURE l3 is a wiring diagram.

FIGURES 4, 5 and 6 are successive views respectively showing the relative position of the parts when the heater is in operation and the compressor is cut off, when 'the compressor is on and the heater is cut off, and When the parts have been restored to their initial position by the operation of the safety feature.

Referring to the drawings it will be seen that two cams are provided. iOne of the cams is indicated by the refer, ence character 1 and is a 24-hour cam or in other words, a one day cam. The other cam is indicated by the reference character 2 and may be a one day, two day, three day, four day, live day, or any number of days cam. It will be referred to as the second cam or `as the cam which rotates once every predetermined number of days which is intended to cover either a one day rotation, which is seldom used, or a two, or three, or four, or ve day, o'r any number of days rotation. This will be explained in detail hereinafter. The cams 1 and 2 may also be referred to as the one day camA and the plural day or multiple day cam, respectively.

These cams are driven from a synchronous motor 15, see FIGURE 2, through gearing. The contact arms are indicated by the reference characters 3, 4, and 5 and are, respectively, the power supplying arm or power arm or 'finger 3, the compressor arm or Afinger 4, and the heater arm or linger 5.

The three arms are biased towards the left as viewed in FIGUREl 4. For example, the arm 5 may be most heavily biased and it is to be noted that the arm 5 is spaced, by means of an insulating spacer `ti, from the arm 4 and that shoulders are provided on the insulating spacer 6 so that the biased arm 5 transmits itsV motion to the arm V4. The anni 4 is biased towards the right Withreference tothe arm 5, whereasv ann 5 is biased to the left as viewed in FIGURE 4, so that the extension or upper end 4 of the arm 4 rides on the two cams when it is `pressed tothe right asvviewcd in FIGURE l. The heater arm 5 will be forced to the right and Will be out of con`- tact with the power supplying central arm 3. 0n the other hand, as soon as the arm 4 drops into the two notches of the two cams, 1 and 2, the arms assume the position shown in FIGURE 4 in which the arm 4 has vmoved out of contact with the power supplying arm 3 [and yin which the heater arm 5 is in' electrical contact with the power supplying arm 3.

This condition of the arms, or relative position of the arms, continues until a solenoidindicated by the 'refer-A ence character '7, see FIGURE 5, has been energized yand has raised its plunger 8 against the action of the springf9 andthereby tripped the locking pawl 10. It is tofbe noted from reference to FIGURE 4 that the power arm 3 is caught behind the shoulder of the locking pawl or latching pawl 10 andA may be released therefrom by nergization of the solenoid 7 which will be described ater.

[It is to be noted that the looking pawl 10 has an extension 10 which is connected to a spring-held releasing arm, Aor vemergency releasing arm 11, pivoted thereon and providedwith a lip lzwhich normally engages the right hand side of the extension arm 10 of the locking pawl 10. The emergency arm ornger 11 is spring urged in acountetl .clockwise direction by means of the spring13so that when the 24 hour cam rotates a predetermined distance a the fail safe feature is obtained by the tripping mechanically of the restraining pawl 10 after a predetermined length of time in the event of failure of the solenoid 7. However, normal tripping occurs through theV energization of the solenoid 7'as hereinabove described.

Although this invention has been described in considerable detail, it is to be understood that such description is intended as illustrative rather than limiting as the invention may be variously embodied and is to be interpreted as claimed.

I claim: s

A switch construction comprising a contact blade assembly including a rst blade, a second blade, and a third blade biased towards contact with said second blade, said third Vblade being normally in contact with said second blade and out of Contact with said lirst blade, la one day cam and a plural day lcam each having a notch, gearing positively connecting said cams to produce registry of said notches after a predetermined number of days, said contact blade assembly having a cam follower portionV arranged to drop into said notches upon registry thereof to interrupt contact between said third blade and second blade and to establish contact between said third and rst blades, a latching pawl for holding said third blade in contact with said first blade and out of contact with said second blade, and electromagnetic means for releasing said latching pawl, said one day cam having a projecting arm for releasing said latching pawl in the event of failure of said electromagnetic means, said projecting arm being arranged independently of said electromagnetic means and being wholly independent in its operation of the operation of said electromagnetic means.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,034,178 Flegel Mar. 17, 1936 y2,424,116 Puerner July 15,1947 2,553,846 Clemens May 22, 1951 2,690,526 Morrison Sept. 28, 1-954 2,697,332 Duncan Dec. 21, 1954 2,736,173 Duncan Feb. 28, 1956 2,890,300 Klein a June 9, 1959 

